The Book Nerd’s Guide to Cleaning Out Your Bookshelves

Welcome to the Book Nerd’s Guide to Life! Every other week, we convene in this safe place to discuss the unique challenges of life for people whose noses are always wedged in books. For past guides, click here.
It has been said, in that I am saying it right now, that few things are more sacrilegious in certain circles than proposing to get rid of one’s books. Nothing can be more difficult than purging beloved pages one has collected for years upon years. But sometimes it must be done, for your mental health, for your partner’s peace of mind, for the sake of zoning laws, for the mission of finding the cat.
This post is for anyone who has ever moved, only to need a second truck for the contents of their bookcases. This post is for those who’ve had to reinforce the coffee table. This post is for you.
It’s not going to be easy to pare down your library, but there are a few questions you need to ask yourself throughout the process, starting with, “Have I read this book?”
Do I Ever Intend to Reread This Book?
Please do not lie to yourself. There are not an enormous number of books you’re going to plop in front of your to-read pile, itself ever growing, to dust off and enjoy all over again from start to finish. Don’t get me wrong: there certainly are some titles. I’m not proposing it’s time clear to away your Harry Potter set—I think not owning one is actually illegal in some states. But you know yourself and your time constraints. Acknowledge them.
If I Haven’t Read This Book, How Long Has It Been Sitting Here?
Depending on your cleaning habits, the layer of dust heaped upon it may help you out with the answer here. Anything nearing a Tales from the Crypt aesthetic should be eighty-sixed immediately.
Am I Keeping This Book on the Shelf to Say Something About Myself?
Do you receive many visitors, and if so, do they immediately search your stacks to divine your true self? We all think people do this—probably because we do this—but do you think it’s likely your landlord’s going to sit there and ruminate on your emotional complexity and overall erudition, as told by all that Faulkner? Let’s be reasonable. You have a studio apartment.
Was This Book Part of a Phase, and Am I Still in That Phase?
Just like pants, you can outgrow a novel, and not in the “I’m too old to sit around idly reading The BFG” kind of way—because that age never comes. Outgrowing a book is more like shedding a skin; you may no longer be the person who adored those pages once. It’s neither your fault nor the book’s. You just wake up one day and realize you don’t want to name your first child Holden anymore. You’re allowed to move on, and you’re allowed to let the book find love with a new owner.
Am I Saving This Book in the Hopes of Re-Gifting It?
It’s entirely reasonable to have a stash of books for gifts in a pinch, but, if you’ll pardon the pun, there’s a shelf life on these things. If you’ve been holding on to that buzzy book-club pick you were “meh” about for years without finding someone to give it to, it’s time to put down the hardcover and donate. Stop trying to make it happen. The only one you’re hurting is yourself.
Can I Remember Any Significant Plot Details or Characters From This Book?
“So, it’s set in the future, I think, and for whatever reason, no one can sleep—no, wait, it’s that everyone’s asleep. But this one girl can’t sleep, so she’s, like, completely alone and has to solve the whole thing. Except there’s an owl that talks, because reasons, and…you know, maybe she’s the one dreaming, come to think of it.”
Just stop it. This book has served its purpose. Let it go, and then look up a plot summary so you don’t injure your brain trying to remember.
Is This Part of a Series, and Did I Buy the Rest of the Series?
Chances are if you jumped ship after one installment of an eight-part series, you’re probably not going to muster the will to plow through the rest. And even if you did, would you want that much shelf space devoted to something you didn’t really care about? Why limit your available tchotchke area like that?